captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, after the verdict-- the country and the world react to the conviction of derek chauvin. we talk with george floyd's family. then, putin and protest-- from behind bars to streets across russia, support for a jailed opposition leader sparks calls for change. plus, the road ahead-- we discuss the biden administration's plans to combat climate change with the new e.p.a. administrator, michael regan. >> this is a real opportunity for american job creation, but it's also an opportunity to harness the advancements in technologies. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.

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white former police officer for killing george floyd is still echoing across the country tonight. a minneapolis jury found derek chauvin guilty of murder and manslaughter on tuesday. it has brought new calls to reform policing and new federal action. john yang reports. >> yang: less than 24 hours after derek chauvin was convicted, u.s. attorney general merrick garland said the government was reviewing the minneapolis police. >> today i am announcing that the justice department has opened a civil investigation to determine whether the minneapolis police department engages in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional or unlawful policing. >> yang: the inquiry could lead to a court-supervised agreement to force changes in the department, a practice sharply limited during the trump administration. both minneapolis police chief medaria arradondo and the city council welcomed today's announcement. the council called for the justice department to use its full authority to hold the police accountable.

across the city tuesday, jubilation when the guilty verdicts were announced. >> guilty all three! guilty all three! guilty all three! >> yang: minneapolis resident david gholar. >> it was a big thing when we got that gratification. not necessarily saying that that eases the pain of the floyd family, but it does give a little bit of... >> yang: today, a leading racial justice activist in minneapolis said despite the verdict, there's still much to be done. >> we don't need more reports, we don't need more business as usual, we need tangible action steps that lead to tangible outcomes that will make black people, indigenous people, hmong people, latinx people who live in the twin cities, feel safe. >> yang: in his remarks after the verdict, president biden also called for more action. >> we can't stop here. in order to deliver real change and reform, we can and we must

do more to reduce the likelihood that tragedies like this will ever happen and occur again. >> yang: but, there were fresh incidents across the country: minutes before the chauvin verdict was delivered, police in columbus, ohio shot and killed a black 16-year-old girl who was holding a knife. authorities released body-camera video, which appeared to show the girl lunging at another woman before police fired. the killing sent hundreds of people into the streets of columbus to protest. also today, a sheriff's deputy in elizabeth city, north carolina, fatally shot a man as officers sought to execute a search warrant. local reports said officers fired as the man tried to drive away. on capitol hill, senate majority leader chuck schumer urged colleagues to address policing nationwide, by passing a bill named for george floyd. >> we must remain diligent in our efforts to bring meaningful change to police departments across the country, to reform practices and training, and the legal protections that grant too

great a shield to police officers guilty of misconduct. >> yang: republican senator john kennedy of louisiana, a member of the judiciary committee, said the verdict shouldn't be used to condemn all police. >> when a radical jihadist, who happens to be a muslim, blows up a school full of schoolchildren we're told not to judge the acts of all muslims by the acts of a few. and i agree with that. how come the same rule doesn't apply to police officers? >> yang: derek chauvin, the former police officer now behind bars as a convicted murderer, will be sentenced inwo months. the most serious charge, second- degree murder, carries a maximum punishment of 40 years in prison. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang. >>oodruff: earlier today, yamiche alcindor spoke with one of george floyd's brothers and the family attorney.

>> alcindor: i'm joined now by george floyds brother philonise floyd, as well as the floyd family attorney, benjamin crump. thank you both for being here. i want to start with you, philonise. you were in the courtroom when this verdict was read. take me into the moments before and after this verdict. what did it feel like? what did it mean? >> i was really nervous. i just got up and i was pacing back and forth. and attorney crump and my wife, they were like, whatever you need to do to be comfortable, just do it. if you need the pacing back and forth, do it. so i did it until we had to get into the courtroom and things like that. and i prayed. i prayed for over 30 minutes because it took the jury and the judge to come up. and lord, when i heard guilty. guilty and guilty. i was ecstatic. i was excited.

i just didn't know what to do because people of color could never get justice for anything. and at this time, i think that the world can breathe now because they all stood behind george to a pandemic to cope with marching. and justice for george means freedom for all. >> alcindor: it's true that people really did stand up for your brother. i want to stick with you and ask, how is george floyd's daughter gianna doing? what was her reaction? and what do you hope this verdict means for the world that she is going to grow up and when it comes to police accountability? >> i think i think she would be exceptional because she predicted she said her dad would change the world and like always say we will be ok, we pray a lot and we speak things into existence. so, gianna, she is her father. she's laughing just like him, she has charisma. and that that's the thing that separas them from a lot of

people. they know how to come into the room and just feel the love with love is a different thing. gianna, i just love her so much. >> alcindor: and benrump, i want to ask you, attorney general keith ellison, the attorney general of minnesota, said justice would be george floyd still being alive. what do you make of that? and what do you make of the fact that it took so much to convict this officer, given the fact that you've represented so many families who didn't have accountability happen in their cases? >> certainly, yamiche. in responding to attorney ellison's revelation about justice would be george not being dead, i'm reminded that philonise floyd and his family have become the comforters and councilor's to daunte wright's family, who was killed within 10 miles while they were in court

on the show trial. and i am reminded of that because at the first joint press conference, daunte's mother said justice would be my son coming through the front door with that big smile on his face. but that's not happening because he's dead so we can't get justice but we can get accountability. so i agree wholeheartedly with attorney general keith ellison, who did a masterful job here with his team in prosecuting this police officer for killing george floyd. >> alcindor: and following this, i want to ask you about darnella frazier and the people who stood by and pleaded for your brother's life, that 17 year old darnella filmed that video that then went viral and really literally changed the world. how much are youhinking about her and all of the people who rallied around your brother? what do you think we should take away from the role that they played? >> i think about them every day. i know that my brother would just be another dead person if

it weren't for her because she had the video that had laid out all the facts. we didn't even need a lawyer to actually go in there. the facts were there and i just think that right now people really believe that the land that we live on is for the free because people fight to get here. and if people are going to fight it, we need to hold our standards high. because derek chauvin, he was the law, but he's not above the law and accountability. he has to understand now that he would have to sit in that cell and do his time, just like my brother is in the ground doing his time. >> alcindor: and philonise, as you said it, philonise you were thrust into this. your family has now become a voice for so many. i wonder what's next for you. and also, in some ways, president biden called your family before and after this verdict. he said this could be a moment. this can be a moment for significant change. what do you think it's going to

take for this to actually be a moment for significant change? >> i think we all have to stand with each other in solidarity. we all have to be united because we're strong in numbers, no matter what color, white, black, hispanic, asian, because there's only one race and the human race. so if we all get together and make laws like the law, justice, policing, that we have to pass that law. it has blood on it. breonna taylor. no knock warrant. you have eric garner and my brother george, the no chokehold. this all needs to be passed. we need the end qualified immunity. we need to make sure these officers have the cameras on at all times: body and dash there's so many things that we need to work on. these officers have to be held accountable. benjamin crump shouldn't have to show up at people's doorstep at times like this. people didn't ask be in this fraternity, but we're dealing with this

>> alcindor: and ben crump, the sentencing for this officer, derek chauvin, will be in eight weeks. the typical sentence for crimes like this are twelve and a half years. how concerned are you about the sentencing portion of this case and the fate of the other three officers who stand charged? >> i believe we should make certain that we hold them to account of equal justice under the law, whatever the charges would have been had the roles been reversed and george floyd had his knee on derek chauvin's neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds is exactly what we want to hold chauvin accountable for. and i think they're going to have a victim impact statement read in court, more than likely by philonise maybe another family member. and i think that's exactly what i'm going to say to judge cahill, who's going to pronounce the sentence that this is my

brother, who he was and whatever you want him to have done to him should happen to his killer, no police officer should be above the law. >> alcindor: philonise, what are you hoping for in sentencing? how concerned are you about the other officers being charged? >> i basically put it this way, derek chauvin, he had a convoy with them and that's the other officers. if i commit a crime with someone else, they'll give me the same time. so unfortunately, they have to go through this. but somebody had to help push my brother's brain down so he would be able to breathe. somebody had to kneel in his neck so he couldn't breathe. somebody was trying to hogtie him so he could breathe. but the things that i had to go through, families all across america had to go through. you can't make up for what happened. this is not a mistake because the mistake can be erased. he had nine minutes to

understand that my brother's life mattered, but now he had to spend the rest of his time in a cell wondering why i couldn't stop what i did to that man that day. >> alcindor: well, thank you so much for joining us, philonise floyd and benjamin crump. >> thank you. >> thank you so much. >> woodruff: in washington, the chauvin guilty verdict adds renewed vigor to the push for a police reform bill. >> woodruff: so, just how difficult is it to bring meaningful, long-term reforms to the way policing is done, especially in exchanges with african americans? and why are some of the challenges so persistent? we turn to alexis karteron, associate producer of law and director of the constitutional rights clinic at rutgers university. and tracie keesee, a 25-year denver police veteran and co- founder of the center for policing equity. and we welcome both of you to the "newshour". tracie keesee, i'm going to begin with you. do you think that, by themselves, the george floyd

case, the trial of derek chauvin, are going to bring changes in policing in this country? >> it will bring some change, but i also have to be honest that change is on the way and currently going. and, so, one of the things that i want to make sure that we lift up is that this is, again, not new. this is just something that we know has not been historically consistent, and, yet, all the work that is happening now on the ground since his homicide is work that has been going on for decades. and, so, it will have some effect, but there's still a lot of work to do. >> woodruff: alexis karteron, how do you see any changes coming from what we've just witnessed in this last year and this trial or do you? >> well, it's really hard to say right now. in the united states we have over 16,000 police departments, and changes really are mostly made at the local level. so it's going to be a decision that's made community by community how they want to respond to this horrific murder

that we all saw, thanks to darnella frazier. >> woodruff: and referring to the young woman who had a video, taking a video of everything that she saw. but stayinwith you, alexis karteron, where do you see change coming initially? you say it's got to come department by department. can federal law make a difference? >> well, time will tell. right now the george floyd justice and policing act is pending in congress. it's been passed by the house of representatives, and that act attempts to incentivize reform at the local level, tying federal grant money to changes in use of force policy, data collection. it eliminates qualified immunity which is a prodetection that extends to police officers when they are sued for misconduct, and a host of other reform measures. so we'll see if that passes congress. if it does, we certainly can expect some reform measures, but

there's a real question activists are raising now about whether that's enough. >> woodruff: and, tracie keesee, how do you see that wi this federal law? of course, it isn't passed yes. do you see it making a difference if it were to become law. >> i'll share alexis' comment in the fact that policing is local and there is only so much the federal government can do. it will be up to local communities, black and brown communities to determine what type of public safety they want and whether that public safety is armed. we see this going on, we know it's happening in the background, but, again, it is going to be something that is local. you feel it closer to home than you do the federal government. there will be some things they will be able to do but other than that a lot of this will happen locally. >> woodruff: alexis karteron, we didn't hear race come up a great deal during the trail of derek chauvin, but it's certainly in practically every conversation that takes place around policing right now.

how do you see changes taking place in attitudes around race? i mean, how is that something that's addressed? >> yeah, it was really striking that race is something that basically went unmentioned at derek chauvin's trial. but, of course, it's been on everyone's minds. millions of people took to the streets last summer in response to george floyd's murder, and it was because they knew that race was part of the equation. it's virtually gobble to imagine the treatment meeted out to george floyd happening to somebody who were white, for example, going forward to build on what tracie said, local communities are going to have to get really real about why policing occurs the way it does and make changes accordingly. >> woodruff: and how do you see that making a difference, tracie keesee? what kind of conversations need to take place? are we talking about laws changing or what? >> we're talking about all of that, right, and we see some of this happening, already, on the

ground, where community is absolutely demanding, for example, that money be moved and made more efficient about the services they really need on the ground. we see this with mental health. so you're going to see a lot more of this. we also see when it comes to how do you hold police officers accountable. community has often voiced from you administration that that does not happen not just on a consistent basis but persistently. and, so, you're going to have conversations and laws passed on the ground nat have to do with collective bargaining and what types of protections do officers get even in that particular vehicle. so there's a lot of things happening already on the ground, and a lot of things we have to fay pay attention to, but what i think is going to be important in all of this and how this ends is we've got to make sure we collect the information, the data, so we know what works, can share and replicate if appropriate and have to stop overlooking the fact thatbrook and brown communities have been

doing intervention work, focused deterrent work, have been doing it without getting the funds they need to do thi a lot of this work is already happening. it's going to make sure a lot of us paying attention and that we lift uthose things and people who are doing the work. >> woodruff: i think many people look at this, alexis karteron, and say a lot of these small steps sound like they could make a difference, but we also know that, at the far end of those who are frankly so disillusioned with policing right now are saying we need to do away with policing or defund the police. how to you look on that argument? >> well, the activists who are calling to defund the police are really calling for us to reimagine public safety. so it's not just about taking away money or funding from the police. it's thinking about at it really takes to make communities safe, and if there are things we can do, if there are programs we can fund, if there are hospitals we can build, if there are

schools we can build thrall make a difference and bring true public safety. you know, it's not an easy task, it's not something that could possibly happen overnight but it's really a vision for what public safety in the united states can mean. you know that old saying when all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail applies here. we're so used to relying on the police for all manner of things where maybe we don't have to. there are places like berkeley who said they want to get police out of traffic enforcement because we know that traffic stops all too often lead to violence. we obviously just saw daunte wright killed outside minneapolis last week. so there are really creative approaches taking hold all around the country, and i'm excited to see some positive change. >> woodruff: tracie keesee, how do you see this question of defund the police, which some have interpreted to mean essentially doing away with police? >> in some cases, that's really

what it means. i think a big part of that conversation is what does the immunity say it wants to have happen. if it means we have unarmed police responding to certain situations, that's what we do. if you look at it, the work happening ineth cay and tompkins county is the same thing, how do we reimagine a services not involved arming for people in social services. how we get in done is the funding. often what we feigned for communities who truly want something different they are fighting bureaucratic hurdles to get the funds in to do the work they need to do. a lot is about who is paying attention. this is about governments, budgets, and who's a priority, and this has been a number one questi for decades. and, so, folks are going to have to have a lot of patience and making sure that they understand that what may not work will have to be reenvisioned and redone

but it doesn't mean we're going to give up and roll backwards. >> woodruff: it's an enormous conversation taking place across the country right now and we're beginning it yet again. it's been taking place for a long time, and it will continue. we thank both of you, tracie keesee, alexis karteron. thank you so much. >> thanks for having me. you. >> woodruff: as we've heard, the chauvin guilty verdict is renewing interest in the push for a federal police reform bill. the "george floyd justice in policing act" did pass the d.m.icily controlled u.s. house of representatives in february, but it has yet to receive a vote in the evenly split senate. to learn where things stand we turn to our own lisa desjardins. so, lisa, i know you have been looking into this, and you have been for some time. right now, it does appear members of both political parties say they see a need to do something about this. tell us what's on the table and what are the holdups?

>> judy, this is an absolutely pivotal moment in congress on this issue. i want to take you back last year when we saw senate republicans pass one bill on this issue led by tim scott of south carolina, and that bill generally would gather data and figure out what needs to happen next. but democrats passed the bill that you heard so much about from your experts just a minute ago, the george floyd policing act. that's the start of the bill mostly pushed by democrats but contains what we're talking about on the table. let's take a look at what that's in it again. the george floyd policing reform act would ban choke holds and some no knock warrants in certain states. police under this law could be charged with criminal offenses if they act recklessly. that would be a new lower standard for charging police in their duties and then, also, as you heard so much about officers

would no longer be immune. what you heard about there from lawsuits. families, instead, would be able to sue more ably and more quickly in court for any unconstitutional actions against them by police. now, what's happening now behind the scenes there are earnest talks happening. there are three main players here, one karen bass, house member from california, former head of the congressional black caucus, also senator cory booker of new jersey, and talking with tim scott, the republican senator from south carolina, all of them really behind closed doors which they all say they're optimistic they can find a way forward. >> woodruff: so, lisa, take us inside what you know about those negotiations. what exactly are they discussing? >> reporter: we got a little bit of insight today. the key hangup is on this issue of qualified immunity that we're talking about. let's look at where things stand and what the issue is here. democrats' bill, the george

floyd act, says again that officers could be sued for their conduct on the job. the republicans' bill last year said, no, officers should remain immune from lawsuits. it seemed like a red line, but tim scott today, the republican, said he thinks there could be a compromise with the idea of loosening the standards to sue police forces themselves while still protecting individual officers. karen bass says there may be issues for union protections as well for officers that could be on the table. so they think they could get a deal by the end of may. we'll see. >> woodruff: lisa desjardins, reporting on this critical moment. lisa, thank you. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, the united states reached 200 million covid-19 vaccinations.

more than 50% of u.s. adults have gotten at least one shot, but the pace has begun to slow. president biden today announced tax credits for businesses. they would fund paid leave for employees to get their shots. >> i'm calling on every employer, large and small, in every state to give employees the time off they need with pay to get vaccinated, and any time they need, with pay, to recover if they're feeling under the weather after the shot. >> woodruff: meanwhile, in germany, protesters in berlin blasted new, nationwide restrictions to slow the spread of the virus. and, in india, 22 patients died after an oxygen tank leaked at a hospital for covid-19 patients. the country set new highs today with 2,000 deaths and 295,000 cases in 24 hours.

another attempt at fostering peace talks in afghanistan has faltered. plans for an international conference on saturday were shelved today. the sponsors cited lack of any prospect of meaningful progress. the taliban had dismissed the meeting as political spectacle. there's word president biden will pledge to cut u.s. greenhouse gas emissions in half from 2005 levels by e year 2030. that was widely reported today on the eve of a virtual summit with 40 world leaders. meanwhile, the european union agreed to go carbon-neutral by 2050. european lawmakers said it puts pressure on washington to act. >> the u.s. is not our big brother on climate. we are the big brother or the big sister. so, they will be actually encouraged by this. they will be pressed by this. they will need to deliver when they see what we have accomplished.

>> woodruff: also today, chinese president xi jinping confirmed he will take part in the summit. china is the world's largest carbon polluter, followed by the u.s. a dozen governors want an end to sales of new, gas-powered vehicles in the u.s. by 2035. the group, led by california and new york, has sent the proposal to president biden in a letter. it would apply to passenger cars and light-duty trucks. the u.s. senate confirmed vanita gupta today as associate attorney general, 51 to 49. she will be the first woman of color to serve as the justice department's third-ranking official. nearly all republicans argued she was too radical. alaska's g.o.p. senator lisa murkowski broke ranks, and voted to confirm. plans for a so-called european soccer "super league" collapsed today after 10 out of 12 clubs dropped out. their plans to break away from

existing leagues had ignited backlash from fans around the world. a founder of the "super league," andrea agnelli, said he still believes in the project. >> it would have given that stability which is required, the rest i can see where they are coming from, other comments that resemble greediness but i would push back that because simply, today football, it's an economic industry. >> woodruff: european soccer officials had threatened to ban "super league" clubs from this year's european championship and next year's world cup. on wall street, stocks were broadly higher today, led by tech companies and banks. the dow jones industrial average gained 316 points to close at 34,137. the nasdaq rose nearly 164 points, and, the s&p 500 added 38.

the late congressman alcee hastings was honored today with a memorial service in e u.s. capitol's statuary hall. fellow lawmakers and others celebrated the florida democrat and his nearly three decades in the house of representatives. hastings died earlier this month after battling pancreatic cancer. he was 84. and, britain's queen elizabeth turned 95 today, her first birthday in 73 years, without her husband prince philip. he died this month at age 99. in a statement today, elizabeth thanked all those who paid trutes to philip. she said she had been deeply touched. still to come on the newshour: massive protests erupt across russia in support of opposition leader alexei navalny. and we discuss the biden administration's efforts to combat climate change with the new e.p.a. administrator.

>> woodruff: across russia today, protesters took to the streets in support of the jailed and critically ill opposition leader alexei navalny. as amna nawaz tells us, they also marched to denounce the man they blame for his imprisonment, president vladimir putin. >> nawaz: as night fell across russia, protestors gathered in the thousands, answering the call from jailed opposition leader alexei navalny. >> ( translated ): the situation with navalny is completely unlawful and it is happening before everyone's eyes. everyone thinks that it could never happen to them. but if it happens to one person it sooner or later could happen to everyone.

>> nawaz: jailed in february, navalny has been on hunger strike for three weeks over lack of medical care. he was transferred to a prison hospital monday for so-called“ vitamin therapy.” police responded to his supporters in force, arresting peaceful protestors, including one of navalny's top allies, opposition figure lyobov sobol o posted a video message from a police van. >> ( translated ): i was literally detained for the thought of showing up at the rally, but you know perfectly well what you should do, you shouldn't be afraid. navalny should be alive, safe and free. >> nawaz: earlier this year, navalny live streamed his arrest upon arrival from berlin, where he'd recuperated after an assassination attempt, one that was launched by the russian government. after his arrest, navalny's anti-corruption organization released a video calling putin a corrupt monarch, pointing to a billion dollar palace putin owned on the black sea. within a day, the video had more than 20 million views, and has

now been seen more than 115 million times. >> he's a kind of tsar, he's an autocrat. >> nawaz: navalny has been active in russian politics for a decade. in 2012, our margaret warner interviewed navalny with an that's when navalny started his campaign against putin, calling his party corrupt. in 2017, nick schifrin followed him again during his campaign for president. >> ( translated ): they tell us, ( bleep ) you and we have to say, oh, okay, we're very sorry. but no, we have gathered here to say we're going to ask these questions and we'll obtain the answers. >> at the end of the day, there are millions of people in russia who fundamentally reject putin, who want russia to finally become a normal european country. there are millions of people in russia who share our vision. >> nawaz: vladimir kara-murza is a russian opposition politician. he himself has survived two assassination attempts, he says by putin's government. he also says the crackdown in recent years is a sign of

putin's weakness. >> why is he so afraid to allow the opposition on the ballot? why is he so afraid to allow peaceful opposition demonstrations? this is not the behavior of somebody who's popular and strong. this is the behavior of somebody who is weak and very insecure. >> nawaz: today in moscow putin said threats to russian national security would not go unchallenged. >> ( translated ): initiators of any provocations threatening our core national security interests are going to regret what they did in a way they haven't regretted anything in a long time. >> nawaz: his warning came amid a massive russian military buildup along the ukrainian border. russia-backed separatists have been fighting against ukrainian forces since 2014. but this year ukraine says russia has gathered more than 150,000 troops on its border. >> nawaz: ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky said yesterday he wanted to meet putin and end the conflict. but he warned ukraine would not back down. >> ( translated ): will ukraine

stop trying to achieve peace by diplomatic means? no, never! but, will ukraine defend itself in case of something? always! >> nawaz: for more on all of this we turn to celeste wallander. during the obama administration she served as the special assistant to the president and senior director for russia and eurasia on the national security council staff, and as deputy assistant secretary of defense for russia, ukraine and eurasia. celeste wallander, welcome to the "newshour". let me start by asking you about president putin. he has jailed a popular political opponent, rounded up protest across the country, amassed troops on the ukrainian border. what does this sell us now about his hold on power? >> i think that the message from moscow and from president putin

is that the leadership is feeling quite insecure at home and abroad, and president putin in his speech today tried to draw a connection between the two things. from what we see inside russia, protests, the activities and effectiveness of the alexei navalny opposition organization is a domestic, internal movement. but the kremlin doesn't like to see it that way because it doesn't like to entertain the thought that russia -- that putin and the putin leadership is genuinely facing opposition of millions of russians, and, so, it tries to draw the link to the outside world, to the united states, in much the same way that president putin blamed then secretary of state hillary clinton in 2012 for the protests when he returned as president. >> reporter: let me ask you about that political opposition,

because president putin has faced critics and opponents before. is there something different about navalny? >> navalny is a special challenge for the russian leadership, the putin leadership because navalny is not of the liberal elite, of the standard russian politicians and oppositions. navalny has a track record of quite a nationalist, actually, and doesn't necessarily have a profile that is strongly advocating liberalism, you know, the package of policies we think of as liberalism. and his main focus and what has made him really popular and well known in russia is the anticorruption campaigns, very effective investigations, very effective use of social media and media and public reporting, and, so, it's the combination of the leader who can't be branded, actually, as sort of a liberal internationalist, but has that credibility as a home-grown,

genuine politician with that anticorruption mission and an effective organization on the ground that clearly has gotten the kremlin's attention. >> reporter: as you know the biden administration has tightened sanctions. some say the u.s. should be doing more. do you believe the u.s. should take sctioning oligarchs that support putin? >> i think that focusing on individual businessmen is probably not going to be effective in imposing costs on the russian leadership at this time. most of those russian businessmen, the ones close to putin and the ones who aren't so close to putin, have already been sanctioned. you can only sanction people so many times and it's not going to be effective. the better course of action is actually what the biden white house has done in the last couple of weeks which is to create a new executive order that creates capabilities, not

yet used, but clearly demonstrated to target russian financial systems and, in particular, sovereign debt, and that would really create significant costs for the putin leadership, and i think that that's where the biden administration rightly has focused its signaling and its capabilities to be able to send a message to the russian leadership that it needs to desist not just on the internal front with its actions against navalny and his supporters but also in interference in our elections and our political systems in the united states. >> reporter: celeste wallander, formerly of the national security council staff under president obama, thank you so much for joining us tonight. >> thank you.

>> woodruff: the biden administration is just hours away from hosting some 40 world leaders in a two day virtual global climate change summit, aimed at tackling that threat, overturning president trump's environmental policies, and reasserting america's leadership on the issue on the world stage. michael regan is the new administrator of the environmental protection agency. he's one of several administration officials participating in the summit. and he joins me now. administrator regan, welcome to the "newshour". thank you for joining us. news reports are saying that what president biden is planning to do is cut -- order a cut in emissions in the u.s. -- in the united states of more than half of what they are by the year 2030. that's ambitious. why is it necessary? >> you know, the president has established from day one that we're facing a climate crisis.

it's necessary for this country to be ambitious, but the president is rallying the world to be ambitious, and the announcement he'll make tomorrow concerning our country's goals will be ambitious, and we're all excited about his leadership. >> woodruff: we know this is going to require some dramatic changes, ramping up, renewable sources of energy, cutting back on the kind of transportation tat americans are used to. specifically how hard is this going to be to do and what -- i mean, 2030 is not even nine years away. >> you know, it's an ambitious goal, but the times call for it. we're facing a climate crisis. but when the president thinks about climate change and the climate crisis, he also thinks about jobs. this is a significant opportunity for america to not only lead but create millions of jobs. you know, we have the

technology, we have the ingenuity, we have the desire to move in this direction, and the markets are driving us there as well. so while it is a big challenge, it's not impossle. >> woodruff: on the one hand, administrator regan, it's ambitious. on the other hand, it's a nonbinding goal. so how do you plan to get the private sector in this country too along with changes that many of them are going to see in the short term as hurting them in the pocket book? >> this president has been engaging corporate america in the private sector from day one. in many instances, the private sector is calling on this administration for this type of leadership. you know, we're setting goals. we're establishing a framework, and we're leveraging the market potential and technological advancements that will make america a leader not only on the global stage in terms of tackling the climate crisis, but

globally competitive economically as well. so we've got a lot of american businessmen and women who are rallying for this as well oral i didn'think around this as well. >> woodruff: i want to read to you a comment from a leading republican senator on these issues. he's senator john barrasso of wyoming on the natural resources committee. he says this is a pledge what he would set what he calls punishing targets for the united states, while he says america's adversaries, like china and russia, in his words, continue to increase emissions at will. and helso said the last thing the economy needs is higher energy prices and fewer jobs, but that's exactly what we're going to get. >> you know, i just disagree with that premise, which is why we have organizations like the american petroleum institute, edison electric institute, and others calling for, you know,

controlling, deep controlling methane emissions, looking at unleashing technology that not only we can use domestically to cut our carbon footprint, but we can export these technologies internationally to countries like china, russia and india. you know, this is a real opportunity for american job creation, but it's also an opportunity to harness the advancements and technologies where we can look at leveraging cutting emissions while expanding -- expanding our global footprint internationally from a technological advancement standpoint. so this is about creating jobs, this is about advanced technologies, this is about global markets and, more importantly, it's about combating the climate crisis. >> woodruff: and i hear you saying much to have the private sector is on board, they want change, but not in the private sector are on board. how do you plan to get

companies, business leaders who don't want to go along with this to go along? >> we have to correspondently engage. the president's leadership has been exemplary in terms of engaging those who are not quite convinced that this is the direion we need to go, whether it's some individuals in the corporate sector who are not quite convinced or some of our republican colleagues who are not quite convinced. everyone needs to see themselves in this vision, so we're trying to paint an inclusive picture of how this serves as a rising tide from our disadvantaged communities to our corporate interests. there are jobs, there are economic opportunities, there are health benefits, there are climate benefits. this is an ambitious challenge for us, but we're ready for it. >> woodruff: how do you expect the summit over the nextwo days to change the conversation on this? what do you expect will come out of this summit? >> well, listen, the president

is rallying world leaders. number one, it establishes that america is back in the driver's seat, back in that leadership position. there will be ambitious goals announced by a number of world leaders tomorrow. i am really excited about facilitating a panel of elected officials, mayors, governors, indigenous leaders from all around the world discussing how we all tackle the climate crisis, while taking care of the most vulnerable and creating millions of jobs while doing so. i believe that tomorrow's summit is going to reinvigorate this conversation worldwide and we're going to be off to the races. >> woodruff: and we've seen finally, mr. regan, the previous administration under president trump, of course, reversing a number of climate initiatives under president obama. you now, and president biden,

are undoing what happened in the previous administration. but how much has been lost or not -- what has nod happened as a result of the last four years? >> well, judy, there's no doubt that we lost a step during the last four years. our scientific integrity took a hit. our ability to harness and grasp technological advancements took a hit. but the good thing about america, the good thing about my employees at epa, we're resilient, we're going to make up for that lost time, and the president is leading the charge. and what i can say is he's leading the charge, and every time he thinks about the climate crisis, he's thinking about jobs. every time he thinks about jobs, he's thinking about the the climate crisis. with this attitude, it will serve as a rising tide, and i believe we will regain the momentum that we lost during the last four years. >> woodruff: well, we will certainly be reporting on the summit in the next -- over the

next two days. michael regan, administrator of the environmental protection agency, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: we want to remind you about a special newshour documentary that is airing tonight on pbs. it is called "critical care: america versus the world," produced by jason kane, and hosted by william brangham, let's take a look. >> let me feel underneath your arm. >> brangham: it's a uniquely american problem. the richest country in the world leaves tens of millions with no health insurance. >> it makes me feel that we don't matter. >> the thing about surgical theater. >> brangham: a country with such remarkable innovation... >> they don't know a discharge date. >> brangham: ...and yet so many are struggling. >> every one of us can name someone we saw suffer to death.

>> you know, the deck's stacked against you. >> this is america's day. >> brangham: as a new administration takes over, promising reform, we travel to four very similar nations, with four very different health systems, for clues. >> i love how open and explicit they are about the fact that there are ways choices. >> brangham: how do they care for virtually everyone, and do it for less money? >> no one says, well, that's going to cost too much, so we're not going to do it. >> here it's a bit more humane. it's like look, you know, there's a basic level of care that people deserve. it costs, but you still deserve it. >> brangham: and, amid a pandemic, does universal coverage help save lives? >> if you require an i.c.u. stay, if you need to be intubated and ventilated, all of those things are covered under the public system. >> brangham: we have a problem. what lessons can we learn from abroad? "critical care: america versus the world."

>> woodruff: and william joins me now. william, so pleased that the special is going to be airing. one of the things you report is that the united states spends roughly, what, two times what other wealthy nations spend on health care, but we often don't get the outcomes that they do. >> that's right, judy. that gap that you're describing was really the genesis of this entire documentary. we spend so much money -- i think it's almost $3.8 trillion every year on health care, and yet we have these incredible inequities. we have amazing innovation as we're seeing, but also 30 million people uninviewrd in the middle of a pandemic. so he look at why are those inequities exist, what might we do about them, but then also look at how there are so many examples of other nations, wealthy nations around the world that have solved this problem, they cover everybody, they do it for less money, and they get better health outcomes than we do. and, so, the question is how do

they do that? how do they go about it? how do they fund it? what are the pit falls of those systems? so we go to four different country and what we're trying to figure out is what lessons we might learn that we could help hlesy-makers here derstand. >> woodruff: -- policy-makers here understand. >> woodruff: and, william, you started filming this before the pandic broke out, and what it did was it exposed the disparities you were looking at in a way that we hadn't seen before. >> that's right, we began filming this back when there was this debate in the d.m.ic presidential primary about how we're going to fix this issue in this country, but then the pandemic breaks out and we're visiting all these countries. so the question comes, how does a universals healthcare system help you, if in any way, during a pandemic? and the answer to that is mixed. i mean, you could look at certain countries, like the united kingd, for example, with the single payer system, they did quite badly during the pandemic. a lot of cases, a lot of deaths.

we went to canada to look at their response to the pandemic, and, in many ways, they did a lot better than we did. i mean, if you had symptoms, you could easily get a test. if you got sick and needed to go to the hospital, that was all covered, you didn't have to worry about those bills. so there are these lessons that can be learned, but the end result is that universals healthcare system is a sufficient -- it's a useful tool, but it is not sufficient for fighting a pandemic. >> woodruff: the special is titled "critical care: america versus the world" airing tonight on cbs. we are so much looking forward. william brangham, thank you. >> thank you, judy. >> woodruff: and online thousands of >> woodruff: and online, thousands of americans have volunteered to help administer vaccines as the u.s. has ramped up efforts to control the coronavirus. we spoke with several vaccine volunteers across the nation, and heard about the sense of happiness they feel when they get to help their fellow

citizens overcome the pandemic. all that and more at: pbs.org/newshour. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe, and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: our u.s.-based customer service reps can help you choose a plan based on how much you use your phone, nothing more, nothing less. to learn more, go to consumercellular.tv >> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide.

>> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

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oh we're ready. ♪ captioning sponsored by wnet >> amanpour: good evening. i'm christne amanpour in london. after being handed the case on monday afternoon, the jury has reached a verdict in the trial of the former minneapolis pice officer derek chauvin in the killing of george floyd. hari srevensen is in new york. >> derek chauvin, the former minneapolis police officer was found guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter, in the death of george floyd early this evening. chauvin, who had been out on bail, was taken back into custody following the verdict. george floyd, a black man, was killed during an arrest in minneapolis in may of last year. the veo of a handcuffed floyd with police officer derek chauvin kneeling on his knek for more than nine minutes led to massive protests against police brutality across the united states andro